Today, we are going to learn about the differences in American pronunciation
between the words “hot,” “hut,” and “hat.”
The first word “hot” can be an adjective or a verb.
As an adjective, it means having a high temperature or causing
The second word “Hut” can be a noun or a verb.
As a noun, it means a small, humble house.
And the third word “hat” can be a noun or a verb.
As a noun, it means a piece of clothing that covers the head.
The differences between these words lie in the vowel sounds
The word“hot” has this “ɑ” sound.
To make this “ɑ” sound correctly, you need to open your mouth wide and drop
The word “hut” has this “ʌ” sound, which has a shorter duration,
compared to the first vowel sound “ɑ”.
To make the “ʌ” sound, you need to relax your jaw and tongue
and open your mouth slightly like “HUT”.
And the last word “hat” has this “æ” sound.
To make this vowel sound, the body of your tongue needs to round upward
while the tip of your tongue is touching the bottom front teeth like “HAT”.
The duration of this “æ” sound is also longer than that of the “ʌ” sound
Let me demonstrate how to pronounce these words.
Please pay close attention to the shape of my lips and the position of my jaw and tongue.
Now, I am going to give you a quiz.
I will pick one of the three words and say it three times.
Please listen carefully and tell me which word I am pronouncing next.
I hope you could tell the differences and picked the word “hot” for your answer.
We have another question for you.
I am going to read a sentence twice that contains one of the three words.
Your job is to tell me which word I am using in the sentence.
This time, I will read a sentence that contains two of the three words.
I’ll say the sentence three times and give you a little hint each time.
I’d like you to tell me which words are used in what parts of the sentence.
And the answer is, She is looking hot in that hat.
The word “hot” also means sexy or good looking.
So this sentence means that the woman is looking good or sexy wearing the hat.
Well, that’s the end of today’s lesson.
If you didn’t answer all of the questions correctly,
watch this video over and over until you can tell the differences between these words.
Make sure to practice your pronunciation as well.
Being able to pronounce these words correctly will help your listening comprehension too!